Biggest Loser: Looking Back as a Personal Trainer

From my spot on my parents’ California King bed, I am illusioned better than those on the screen. These people on the beginning of a journey but also at the end of one. These people whose reasons for getting here I may one day understand. Eating ice cream from the pint, we giggle at the irony.

I watch these trainers that I did not yet know I would strive to be better than. Screaming, reaching for an emotional response, for the “why” to work harder. But at what cost? Throwing them into a full-fledged workout routine that would be an intense schedule for even a seasoned lifter. They do this knowing viewers would laugh. Contestants get to the point of throwing up and passing out and it was used as a “bonding moment.”

They were not encouraged to work on the emotional aspect via therapy to unpack the trauma that brought them to this point or search for a balanced lifestyle that would assist them in their everyday life once they left the show.

While some did keep most of the weight off after the show, many regained the weight as they did not learn meaningful long-term tools.

Now, as a trainer, I work to challenge my clients but also unpack why they keep returning to the same unhealthy habits. What are they chasing? Trying to escape? Trying to feel? Through encouragement, hard work, and occasionally a few affirmations into the mirror, I help my clients achieve a healthier view of exercising and their bodies.

I first began working out daily when I left a particularly unhealthy relationship in an effort to reclaim bodily autonomy. I needed to feel in charge of myself. In the process, I found unending positives and a few negatives.

We all find our way to the weights for a reason. None of them are the same. Let’s be kind to one another. And, now more than ever, encouraging.